Andy Beard - Internet Business Systems Discussion - Latest Comments in New Look But a Few Teething Problems

Re: New Look But a Few Teething Problems

AndyBeard — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 08:20:51 -0000

The footer is actually something I have been struggling with all morning on a test blog, it will all change.
There use to be a lot more there, and I need to include it again, but in a specific manner

Re: New Look But a Few Teething Problems

AndyBeard — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 08:20:51 -0000

The footer is actually something I have been struggling with all morning on a test blog, it will all change.
There use to be a lot more there, and I need to include it again, but in a specific manner

Re: New Look But a Few Teething Problems

Frank — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 08:14:48 -0000

I have to say that I like your full featured footer for each article. It's a one stop shop for bookmarking, digging and linking. I think more and more we'll see this sort of thing although I probably think that someone will make it all disappear in an ajax shelf that you can lower to get to it. With all the social bookmarking and Web 2.0 stuff these days it can overwhelm a page otherwise. I think that you've got a good balance of functionality though.

Keep up the good work and the practical posts.

Re: New Look But a Few Teething Problems

Frank — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 08:14:48 -0000

Keep up the good work and the practical posts.

Re: New Look But a Few Teething Problems

AndyBeard — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 04:53:39 -0000

Matt I think the comment problem is a feature of Spam Karma unfortunately.

If someone hasn't commented much on a blog, it optionally has a captcha to "recover" a comment and give it a small boost in the allocation of "credibility"

There are so many other factors involved, such as time on page etc.

It can be slightly inconvenient, but I actually prefer it to a situation that a comment might get mixed up with lots of spam and never recovered. Even if a comment ends up at the top of the possible spam list, it is normally highlighted in green ready for approval.

I also get emails every 8 hours with a list of possibles for inclusion.

Re: New Look But a Few Teething Problems

AndyBeard — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 04:53:39 -0000

Matt I think the comment problem is a feature of Spam Karma unfortunately.

If someone hasn't commented much on a blog, it optionally has a captcha to "recover" a comment and give it a small boost in the allocation of "credibility"

There are so many other factors involved, such as time on page etc.

I also get emails every 8 hours with a list of possibles for inclusion.

Re: New Look But a Few Teething Problems

AndyBeard — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 03:15:38 -0000

There are an insane amount of bugs you guys didn't spot, so that is a good thing I suppose.

Font colors: I am currently using 0000FF - I might stitch to 0000CC but those links are going to remain blue, it is just which blue.

I want the overall prevailing color to be white, I have always found it works well, and this blog post gives even more reason,
White Websites Convert

There was only so much I could do on a development site before bringing it to this domain.

There are real bugs than need addressing not just with the layout, but I will get to those today.

It is interesting the idea that this site might be cramped slightly

Time to compare websites

Blogherald - has a smaller left margin, narrower body, headline appears slighly lower on the page. Maybe the difference is that my middle column has more than just adsense in it.

Marketing Pilgrim has narrower columns, thus allowing the left margin to be slightly wider.

David's site is actually the opposite. Much wider columns, and yet it is still keeping to the idea of "white". In some ways the wider columns give it more space.

One thing to mention is that I haven't included advertising yet.
That will be at the top of the right column and might have some effect on the space.

I haven't actually tweaked styling too much from the original blog.txt template so far, but that will change.

I did face major problems with v3.0 of the theme. The designer has gone overboard in optimizing the CSS and PHP to the extent that working out what is going on, and modifying it is hard work.
Nothing is commented in the ocde anymore, and it is all bunched up.
The sidebars were just a long chain of "if else" logic rather than individual logic for each item.

I could understand using "if else" if the logic was being deeply nested, but it wasn't.

I have no idea if this will change performance, but the changes certainly help me move things around.

Ok on with the tweaking

Re: New Look But a Few Teething Problems

AndyBeard — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 03:15:38 -0000

There are an insane amount of bugs you guys didn't spot, so that is a good thing I suppose.

Font colors: I am currently using 0000FF - I might stitch to 0000CC but those links are going to remain blue, it is just which blue.

I want the overall prevailing color to be white, I have always found it works well, and this blog post gives even more reason,
White Websites Convert

There was only so much I could do on a development site before bringing it to this domain.

There are real bugs than need addressing not just with the layout, but I will get to those today.

It is interesting the idea that this site might be cramped slightly

Time to compare websites

Blogherald - has a smaller left margin, narrower body, headline appears slighly lower on the page. Maybe the difference is that my middle column has more than just adsense in it.

Marketing Pilgrim has narrower columns, thus allowing the left margin to be slightly wider.

David's site is actually the opposite. Much wider columns, and yet it is still keeping to the idea of "white". In some ways the wider columns give it more space.

One thing to mention is that I haven't included advertising yet.
That will be at the top of the right column and might have some effect on the space.

I haven't actually tweaked styling too much from the original blog.txt template so far, but that will change.

I could understand using "if else" if the logic was being deeply nested, but it wasn't.

I have no idea if this will change performance, but the changes certainly help me move things around.

Ok on with the tweaking

Re: New Look But a Few Teething Problems

eve — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 21:58:49 -0000

Looks like it is coming along nicely! It is always such a mess working out all the kinks! Good luck!

Re: New Look But a Few Teething Problems

eve — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 21:58:49 -0000

Looks like it is coming along nicely! It is always such a mess working out all the kinks! Good luck!

Re: New Look But a Few Teething Problems

Maki :: Dosh Dosh — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 19:37:15 -0000

I think the previous look felt a bit more spacious.. now most of the content seems to be bunched up on the left side of the screen which makes it kinda squeezy..

It's easier to get to the comments section though..

Re: New Look But a Few Teething Problems

Maki :: Dosh Dosh — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 19:37:15 -0000

I think the previous look felt a bit more spacious.. now most of the content seems to be bunched up on the left side of the screen which makes it kinda squeezy..

It's easier to get to the comments section though..

Re: New Look But a Few Teething Problems

David Airey — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 18:19:48 -0000

I already think it's an improvement, Andy.

You know, I've never come across a blog with a similar layout to yours. It's more standardised now, but in a good way.

In the previous version I was never too sure where an article began and ended.

How about a re-design of your name in the header?

Good luck with the tweaking.

David

Re: New Look But a Few Teething Problems

David Airey — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 18:19:48 -0000

I already think it's an improvement, Andy.

You know, I've never come across a blog with a similar layout to yours. It's more standardised now, but in a good way.

In the previous version I was never too sure where an article began and ended.

How about a re-design of your name in the header?

Good luck with the tweaking.

David

Re: New Look But a Few Teething Problems

Avinash — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 15:59:34 -0000

And one more thing that I forgot to write in my first comment: You may want to change the link color, though it depends on your wish. COLOURlovers might help in the color selection.

Re: New Look But a Few Teething Problems

Avinash — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 15:59:34 -0000

And one more thing that I forgot to write in my first comment: You may want to change the link color, though it depends on your wish. COLOURlovers might help in the color selection.

Re: New Look But a Few Teething Problems

Avinash — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 15:55:17 -0000

You may want to adjust the white spaces. They make things look like they are out of control!

I think you may already be fixing these things..

Re: New Look But a Few Teething Problems

Avinash — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 15:55:17 -0000

You may want to adjust the white spaces. They make things look like they are out of control!

I think you may already be fixing these things..

Re: New Look But a Few Teething Problems

Lord Matt — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 14:49:53 -0000

If I may be so rude as to comment a second time I do have one tiny b*tch about your site. After I comment I end up on a very terse thank you screen and no link back to the article / main page.

Re: New Look But a Few Teething Problems

Lord Matt — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 14:49:53 -0000

If I may be so rude as to comment a second time I do have one tiny b*tch about your site. After I comment I end up on a very terse thank you screen and no link back to the article / main page.

Re: New Look But a Few Teething Problems

Lord Matt — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 14:36:06 -0000

Much better. You get to the comment section much more readily. I like the explination for the social bookmark buttons (might have to do likewise) and the big orange javascript dropdown XML button looks good even if the options do scroll clean off the bottom of the page. The link to me box looks a bit funny all long and no depth. A copy to clipboard JS link might do well... up to you though - it's your blog. It is also a bit gappy down here arround the "no nofollow" bit.

Re: New Look But a Few Teething Problems

Lord Matt — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 14:36:06 -0000